


All I Need Is A Look

by WickedSong



Series: butterfly effect & other tales (hacyweek prompts) [2]
Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, hacyweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedSong/pseuds/WickedSong
Summary: [Sequel to Butterfly Effect]In the midst of a surprising reunion, Celeste provides answers.
Relationships: Harry Greenwood/Macy Vaughn
Series: butterfly effect & other tales (hacyweek prompts) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819129
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	All I Need Is A Look

**Author's Note:**

> -Guess whose back? Back again! Me, with the second part of yesterday's fic. Also, if you read the character tags then you might have an idea of who else is back in this, the second and final installment of this particular set of fics. Excitement.
> 
> -Hurt/Comfort is always a tricky one, at least for me, so I don't know if I completely met the prompt, but hey, I had a great time writing this and that's what matters.

“Maggie, I really don’t see what could be so-“

Though she let herself be pulled from the safety of her bedroom, Macy still felt her patience fraying at the seams, as she was dragged into the hallway, and to the top of the stairs. It was there that Macy faltered, whatever she planned to say next to her sister completely forgotten.

Because standing there, flesh and bone, in front of her and seemingly alive was…

“ _Harry_.”

Maggie squealed his name excitedly, darting down the stairs ahead of Macy, throwing her arms around the whitelighter in a hug he clearly wasn't prepared for, before she joined a dumbfounded Mel beside him at the foot of the stairs.

Macy was stunned, finding herself rooted to the spot, while her stomach did soumersaults. There wasn’t a logical solution for this – or even magical, as far as she was aware. She had watched, unable to do _anything_ , as Harry made his choice so that they might be able to bring down the Faction, and the forces behind it.

“I…I don’t understand.”

More than not understanding, Macy doubted if it could even be _true_. It had to be a dream, or illusion, or _trick_.

She took a hesitant step down the staircase, hoping that Harry understood her reluctance. She wanted so much to believe it was him, like her sisters did, but the heartache that had built throughout the past day held her back.

She was relieved then, to see that Harry looked as confused as she felt.

“Me neither, truth be told,” he said, that wrinkle in his forehead looking like it was working on overtime. “The last thing I remember is plunging that knife into my heart, and then nothing. And now I’m _here_.”

Harry continued to ramble about the side-effects, the consequences of killing his darklighter, wondering aloud why he was standing in the manor. Rambling in a way that made Macy’s heart swell with a familiar rush of love.

“Harry,” she said, clearly enough that he stopped immediately, clearly still dazed. “Look at me.”

His eyes met hers, and his smile softened considerably. Though he still didn't understand, at least he looked calm, almost. It was then that Macy _knew_.

Months ago, she'd told him that all she’d ever need was a look. One look, and she would know, without a doubt, it was him.

By this point, she’d reached the foot of the stairs. Harry closed the gap between them, looking up at her.

“Is it really you?” Macy asked, an echo of a question she’d asked him months ago, when their world had turned on an unpredictable axis, and not much had been certain.

But he’d been there then, and he was here _now_. That was the most important thing.

Macy wasn’t going to question it, not yet; not now that she was _sure_ that he was standing in front of her. 

“Who else would it be?”

The familiar reply forced Macy to smile brightly, and she felt her eyes start to water again. This time, they were tears of joy, and she flung herself forward, into Harry’s arms, not caring that her sisters still watched them intently from the side of the staircase.

In that moment, it was only _them_ , and no one else.

Macy held him as close as she could. She felt him bury his face in the crook of her neck. In almost perfect unison, they sighed in relief.

This was _safe_. His arms were a home away from home, and Macy was determined to never let him go again, not without a fight.

When he pulled away, Macy wondered, for the briefest of seconds, if it had all been a dream. But he was still there, still alive, still in front of her, and still breathing.

“I can’t believe it,” she said, as loud as a whisper, shaking her head, as she grasped at his torn jacket, She drew her other hand up, and stroked his cheek. There were tell-tale bruises just underneath his eyes, and he had a split lip; the reminders of the fight with his darklighter.

“I wish I had an explanation,” Harry replied, with a wry smile, and a shake of his head, bringing a hand up to stroke her cheek too.

“You really remember _nothing_?”

This was the reminder to Macy that her sisters were still present in the foyer, and watching them. Maggie had her head tilted, and looked as though she’d shed a few tears of her own. Mel, smiling, was the one to speak, as inquisitive as ever.

Suddenly feeling almost embarrassed, Macy pulled her hand away, but kept an arm around Harry’s side, as they both turned to Mel and Maggie.

“Honestly, you’d probably remember more than me about the whole thing,” Harry replied. He brought a hand up to his heart, where he'd inflicted what should have been the killing blow, as if that might jog his memory, even a little. Maggie shrugged, and made a non-committal noise, as she seemed to have an idea.

Macy nodded to her, wanting to know what she was thinking.

“If you really want to know, maybe I can try and get a premonition?” she suggested. "I've never looked into the past before, but it's worth a shot, right?"

“That won’t be necessary.”

They all turned to the direction of the living room, where Celeste, of all people, had suddenly appeared. She was fiddling with her familiar timepiece, looking as nonchalant as usual. The former Elder held up a placating hand, but that didn't quell Macy's temptation to send her flying. But she was so tired, and Mel stepped forward first.

“Who the _hell_ let you in our house?”

“I found a way,” Celeste replied, with a shrug. “You learn a few things when you’ve been around as long as I have.”

Maggie, with eyes like thunder, picked up her baton from the small table beside the stairs.

“Obviously you _haven’t_ learned when you’re not welcome. We told you we wanted nothing more to do with you."

Macy nodded her head vigorously, carefully angling herself so she was partially in front of Harry.

After all, it was Celeste’s pact with Vivienne and the Faction that led to her double cross, and Jimmy falling back into enemy hands. Though she’d helped, once she’d realised the mistake she’d made – once it had been too late for Harry or his darklighter - the former Elder was still, in Macy’s eyes, as terrible as they came.

“Wait,” Harry said, holding a hand up, before anyone moved any further.

Macy looked to him, confused why he would continue to defend the woman who had, in his own words, been his ‘ _own personal Dr. Frankenstein_ ’. Even if he had forgiven her for that, surely he couldn’t for _this_? Mel and Maggie clearly shared Macy’s sentiments.

“Do you remember that she basically sold us out to the Faction?” Mel said, casting a sideways glance between Harry and Celeste. "As if that wasn't bad enough, she's the reason you had to kill Jimmy, and yourself!"

“ _Of course_ I remember, Melanie,” Harry retorted, thoughtfully, “but there’s more. There’s a…memory.”

Again, that wrinkle in his forehead reflected how deeply he was thinking. Macy kept a tight hold on him, afraid he might be spirited away at any moment, especially with Celeste around. Clearly, he was remembering something.

“I brought you back, Harry,” Celeste said, plainly, and when everyone met her with confused gazes, she sighed. "I'm not exactly going to beat around the bush about it."

Macy looked at her, for a long moment, and then to Harry. Finally, she met the gaze of her sisters, who looked bewildered too by the older woman's claim.

“What do you mean you brought him back?” Maggie asked, incredously. “ _You_ put him in danger in the first place.”

“And isn’t that impossible?” Mel added. “It’s even written in that book of yours that once a whitelighter dies their darklighter does too. There's no way around that. We weren't even able to sever their connection.”

“I _wrote_ the book,” Celeste replied, with a raise of her eyebrows, and a wave of her hand. She grasped the timepiece firmly now, and placed it into her pocket. “I decided to add an amendment. I couldn't very well leave the world without at least one whitelighter.”

Celeste dared to take a step closer, strutting as though what she said absolved her, but Maggie and Mel were determined to not give any ground to her. Macy steeled herself, too.

“She’s not a threat,” Harry said, taking a step forward at her side. “Not anymore, at least.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to trust her,” Macy argued, and Harry didn't argue any further on that point.

Celeste didn’t say anything, until she was in front of Maggie. Instead, she placed a non-threatening hand on her arm. The baton, which had been raised, fell to her side, and she looked momentarily stunned.

“Your guilt,” she said, as evenly as she could, though it sounded like she was floored. “ _Wow_ , you have a lot of it.”

Celeste nodded, and retracted her hand. Macy watched, carefully, as the older woman, stood in front of Mel. Mel, arms folded, shook her head, surprised when Maggie touched her arm.

They shared a wordless communication, and Mel stood out of the way. Celeste had the good sense to look sheepish as she walked towards Macy and Harry. Macy kept herself firmly between the pair.

Celeste seemed to accept this was as far as she was going to get, and Macy noted that Maggie didn’t even attempt to persuade her to step away the same way she had Mel.

“You’re whole, Harry,” Celeste said, finally. “When the Elders severed your connection, and you chose to chart your own path, you were on your way to becoming your own person, separate from the darklighter we locked away, all those years ago.”

“I couldn't be sure of my hypothesis, not until you...you and Jimmy were gone. He never had the chance you did in severing with the Elders, I mean,” Celeste continued, sounding regretful.

"But how did you do it?" Macy asked, remembering how she'd exhausted every option she could to break the bond between the pair, and failed. 

"When you and your sisters went to battle, and sent me away, I returned to the Castle Breithe," Celeste explained. "There was a contingency in place. If the last whitelighter who was created by our hands were to fall they'd return there as their final resting place, in case we wished to-"

"To try again," Harry said; not a question, but seemingly fact, by the ashamed look on Celeste's face. He sounded incredulous. 

Celeste gave a tut. 

"I told you before, our methods were questionable," she defended, "but we believed we had no choice. Besides, without that, you would have returned to nothingness. I wouldn't have been able to bring you back from that. _No one_ would've."

Macy stilled at that thought, and felt Harry stiffen too beside her. She found she couldn't bear to think about it. 

“But I-I started this. It was only fair I found a way to end it. The torment that the two of you shared.” Celeste looked around, to Macy and her sisters, and then Harry again. "The things I've put you all through."

“But what does that _mean_?”

“Your memories remain intact, as do your powers, of course,” Celeste replied, to Harry’s question, as he folded his arms. “This time, instead of splittling your soul into two fragments, I was able to recall it. Recall, that is, the memories and experiences of the man you've become now, of your own volition. This includes what you know and remember of your previous life; a part of Jimmy that will always linger, no matter what."

She dared now, to spare a look Macy’s way.

“There’s still many paths for you to take,” Celeste said. “Multiple roads to destiny, but I’d be a fool to stand in the way of yours, whatever form that may take.”

She looked between them.

Though Macy tried her best, she was unable to hide the small smile on her face. She felt Harry’s hand grip onto hers, and she held on tightly too. She met his shy eyes, with her own, and hoped she was – wordlessly - saying everything he had to hear, without saying anything at all.

The smile he returned, though tentative and unsure - what Celeste had just told them was a lot to take in - told her he understood completely.

“It doesn’t completely atone for my sins,” Celeste continued, “but it might be a start. It’s the least you deserve, all of you. Now, I think it’s time for me to take my leave. With the Faction gone, maybe it’s time for me to consider where my retirement will take me next.”

As Celeste turned to leave, and Harry took a step forward.

“Celeste,” he said, and the woman turned back to look at him. A moment of silent recognition passed between them. “Thank you.”

Macy couldn’t quite bring herself to say those words, at least not at this moment in time, but she couldn’t deny her gratitude. She didn’t think she’d ever trust this woman, or even like her, but still she nodded her head in silent thanks.

Celeste nodded back.

With a wry smile, she turned, retreating to the living room from where she’d first appeared. A light, much like the portals in the now almost-defunct command centre – but that was a problem for tomorrow - lit up, and then she was gone.

Macy let out a sigh she hadn’t even realised she was holding. Her heart had been in her throat during the entire exchange with the former Elder. Harry stood a few paces in front of her, still watching the same spot where Celeste had left. Mel and Maggie watched it, too; clearly thinking about what they'd just learned.

Macy had only one thought, however. And it wasn't Celeste.

She placed a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder. It took a moment, but he turned around to look at her.

"Macy."

"Harry."

Macy was caught up at the look in his eyes, and the second chance they now had. So caught up, in fact, that it took a loud cough - Mel, of course - to break their gaze.

“Geez, get a room you two,” Maggie said, teasingly, laughing.

"I second that," Mel agreed.

But she smiled broadly, nonetheless, as she hugged Harry. Maggie followed, giddy with excitement.

"The Faction is defeated, and Harry is back," she said, with an excited hop, as she pulled away from him. "This has been a _good_ day."

Macy couldn't argue with her sister's assessment.

"Come on," Mel said, to Maggie, looping her arm around hers. "We should have that tea." 

Obviously a pretence for giving Macy and Harry some alone time, as the tea had been forgotten about long ago.

With Mel and Maggie in the kitchen, and out of side, Macy was starkly aware that it was just the two of them; a strange kind of awkward. There was something that she'd wanted to say, something that pressed against her heart and made it race ridiculously fast, made her nervous. Harry could clearly tell. This time, he touched her shoulder gently.

"Macy, what's the matter?"

He sounded as though as he believed he'd done something wrong.

Macy smiled, to let him know that wasn't the case.

"I was just thinking, upstairs, before you know, this happened," she didn't quite know how to describe it, and Harry chuckled, in understanding of the surreal situation they'd found themselves in, "that we wasted so much time. If this week was all you and I had, I would've cherished it, but also regretted that it was _all_ we had, you know?" She shrugged, and sighed. "I don't want to regret things anymore, Harry."

He nodded, showing that he understood her perfectly.

"I meant what I said," Macy continued. "I have clarity now, and the events of the past twenty-four hours have given me even more, if that was possible. I want you, Harry Greenwood, and more importantly than that, I-I..."

She paused, and took a deep breath. She laughed, and Harry joined.

"This is hard, you know?" she argued, with a smile.

"I know," Harry agreed, as he put his hands on her shoulders, and rubbed soft circles. The touch made Macy feel calm, and she sunk into it, almost, as Harry continued, "you don't have to say it, anyway. I already know."

Macy tilted her head, and leaned in to press a soft kiss against his lips. She felt him return the kiss, before she pulled away.

"I love you, Macy," he said quietly.

She put her arms around Harry’s neck, and he chuckled, looking down, and then back up at her. A moment passed and then he kissed her soundly. They pulled apart, their foreheads still touching, trying to take each other in as much as possible. Second chances were rare, and had to be appreciated, and Macy knew neither she nor Harry would squander this one.

"I love you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> -I know canon hasn't really given us any reason to believe Celeste might be in league with the Faction, but I think she's shady, and it worked for the purposes of this story.
> 
> -I think she's shady and I'm gonna stick by that until proven otherwise. But she's getting better, maybe? I made up a looot of stuff here that I don't even know makes any sense, but that's the point of fanfic, right? Please don't look too closely, you might see some (plot) holes, is my motto when writing.
> 
> -That final section was originally a whole lot shorter, but once I fleshed it out, I fleshed it out!
> 
> -I have two more fics for this week (one for What If?), and a three-parter for free choice (that may have been able to go under tomorrow's prompt as well, but it's not ready yet so...)


End file.
